First part.
How Jacob travels to Egypt and sacrifices to the Lord; and how the Lord appears to him.
V. 1 Israel went with all that he had. And when he came to Beer-saba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
(1) There is nothing else in this chapter except the genealogy of Jacob and how he went down to Egypt; therefore it seems to be of little importance to the wise men of this world. For they consider it a small thing, not worthy to be written by the Holy Spirit and to be read in the church before prophets and apostles. But the godly, who look more closely and diligently at the Scriptures and the works of the Holy Spirit, look especially at this and marvel at the fact that the whole life of the saints is led in faith in God, who promised His Son. For so Jacob lived in faith in Christ; therefore his works, though despised and unworthy, pleased our Lord God, because the promise sanctifies everything and makes everything precious in the sight of God, and nothing can be so small that is done in such a state or profession that God has ordained and appointed, it is all pleasing to God; and when it is done in faith and word, it far surpasses the miracles of all popes and monks.
The same was the teaching of the holy patriarchs, who understood all this gloriously and well and taught it diligently and often in their churches. As the sacrifice Jacob made is described in the beginning of this chapter, there will undoubtedly have been a sermon and instruction or teaching about the promises of God and also about his entire life. But how the monks
and papists despise the domestic works of the fathers: so they know nothing of their spiritual exercises, which they had in the church. For when Moses writes how Jacob offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac, they think of nothing else than how he slaughtered oxen and sheep, and how the same flesh was burned on the altar; for they despise the holy Scriptures, and therefore have themselves been rejected above such contempt, so that they are not worthy to read and understand the Scriptures.
3. But from what has been said above it is evident what kind of altars and sacrifices Adam and Noah and the other fathers after them had, namely, that they were like our schools and churches, that they came there in crowds to teach, pray and give thanks: Not only did they slaughter and sacrifice oxen and other cattle, as the words say (and as a secular man would dream that they went there like cooks or other butchers), but they were household fathers, prophets and priests, who had this use, where they came together, that they built and erected altars there, and sacrificed oxen or sheep on them; but this was not done without teaching and preaching. For they also preached at the same time, teaching and instructing their family and neighbors, who heard the word of the promise of the future Savior of Christ and of the seed of Abraham. And they preached exactly the same sermons that we now reproach the church and congregation of God with, except that they taught about the future Christ who was yet to come, but we now say of him: Christ has come, since they said: He will come.
This is why Jacob preached to his household in Cap. 35, v. 2. v. 2, preached to his household: "Put away from yourselves the strange gods that are among you.
2c., that is, repent, be godly, hear the word, believe in God, call on Him and give thanks to Him. For Jacob was a high priest full of the Holy Spirit, who diligently taught his church and congregation, and kept feasts for his household, neighbors, and others who also came to be present at the service, to hear the sermon, and also to pray with him.
5 Since Moses says of Jacob that he sacrificed to his father's God, let this be understood to mean that he preached the gospel of the Son of God, exhorting his hearers to fear God, believe in Him and hope in Him, and to live holy and honorable lives, praying and giving thanks to God and hoping for eternal life.
(6) To what God, then, did he sacrifice? Answer: He did not sacrifice to any idol or idolatrous god, which he himself had made or invented, but "to the God of his father. For Moses emphatically added the same: He sacrificed to the God who made the promise, whom Isaac, Abraham, Shem and Noah also served. For this is also the true God, who promised the blessing to all nations in the blessed seed, who was to crush the head of the serpent. He served him, preached about him and called upon him; therefore this was also the highest work of the created table.
(7) But why did he take such pains to sacrifice and call upon God when there was no need or danger? For both Pharaoh and Joseph have summoned him to Egypt with all his household, and are the wagons already there, and is there enough food and grain? It seems that he was a little frightened or must have had some other difficulty that he prayed so anxiously. He no longer doubted his son's life, nor the mercy of King Pharaoh, and was quite willing and ready for this journey; but he must have begun to wonder within himself whether this advice would please our Lord God.
would like. For it was not enough that he was demanded by his son Joseph and also by the king in Egypt himself; but one had to ask afterwards also whether it would please God that he should make this journey? He must have had a great disputation with himself, and perhaps he also had a discussion with his sons when he came to Bersaba, where he would have said: Watch, dear sons, what we do. We were promised the land of Canaan, that God would bless us in it: but how if God should so tempt me that I should go out there and die in Egypt? For I am going there without God's word, yes, against the word, of my own counsel and will, without divine appointment. I see that I am going against the promise, which includes the land of Canaan and not Egypt.
8 With these thoughts, it seems, his heart and also his sons' hearts were troubled, and therefore he will have said: Let us tarry here a little, and I will call upon God, saying, O thou dear merciful Father! O God, who art marvelous in thy counsel, I desire to see my son Joseph before I depart from this life; but I am still uncertain whether I sin in it, or whether it is pleasing to thee: therefore govern and send my conduct and my works according to thy will; help, dear Lord God.
9 Thus it is seen that he had a purely holy conscience and looked only to God and His will, in whose fear and honor he always walked. But he still cannot conclude for himself what he should do and whether he should dare to do it. For it is ever a great thing to forsake the promise of the land wherein Abraham and Isaac, Jacob's father, dwelt; therefore he thought, Behold, this land was given to Abraham and to me, and now I leave the same with all my household: how if I were slain in Egypt with all my children and my seed?
(10) These are the trials which the saints have had; and shall all these things be unto us for a prelate?
They were prescribed examples, namely, how they sacrificed and how the father prayed with his sons with one heart: Dear Lord God, you will govern us so that we do not follow our flesh and blood, now that we are to go to a foreign land! O dear Lord, that we may not perish, and that I may not sin in this and fall into perdition, because I long for my son so much and love him so much! For that he had the thoughts and spoke thus, one can well assume from the following text.
11 Beer and sheba are two different words. One can see from the geography that Jacob, since he wanted to go to Egypt, had to come to Bethel; but he turned too much to the midnight, since he should have gone to the morning. Therefore, I believe that he went the next way to Jerusalem, through Etham, through which God did not want to lead the people of Israel when they left Egypt, because of the Philistines, but He led them through the desert.
V. 2-4. And God said unto him in the night in his vision, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. And he said: I am GOD, the GOD of thy father; fear not to go down into Egypt, for there will I make thee a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt, and will bring thee up also: and Joseph shall lay his hands upon thine eyes.
12 From this it can be seen what the challenge was that Jacob had. For the divine promises and consolations are not absolute, but relative, that is, they always and certainly presuppose the challenge. For God speaks of the greatest things, and is not a useless launderer, who talks out all sorts of things lightly and without thinking; but when he speaks, he holds out to us the greatest things. Because he says to Jacob, "Do not be afraid," since you are about to go to Egypt, it necessarily follows that Jacob must have been terribly frightened and very afraid, otherwise he would not have gone.
he would not have needed the comfort that God calls him to be confident and forbids him not to be afraid. There is no doubt about it, he will have been afraid that he would lose the promise, because it was based on the land of Canaan, which he now wanted to leave and move out of, and therefore he will have said, when he became quite mad about it: Oh dear sons, we will sin! Do therefore rather, and call my son Joseph hither unto us. For with the same temptation and fear he frightened the whole house, so that they could no longer conclude anything certain about their journey. Therefore he said, "Let us come together, let us sacrifice, let us pray, and let us call upon God, that we may strengthen and comfort ourselves with the word of God's grace and promise; and let us pray that he may govern and direct our conduct according to his will.
013 Therefore God appears to him in his face, and says to him thus: "Fear not," and do not despair, as if you were sinning against my promise; but I command you to continue, and will hereby confirm your passage in Egypt. I will bless thee, and thou shalt see Joseph thy son, and his hands shall cover thine eyes.
14 From this it can be assumed that even though God cannot lie or fail in His promises, He still reserves the right to fulfill them and make them real, and to do what He has promised, in such a way that everything seems completely absurd and contrary to the Word. Therefore, such a heart is needed that is wise and able to understand the mind and counsel of God. For God keeps His promise faithfully, can never be changed, and yet allows the opposite to happen, so that He may tempt us.
This is the wonderful rule of our Lord God, of which Paul exclaims with great amazement, Rom. 11, 33. 34: "O what depth of riches, both of wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments, and his ways unsearchable! For who has known the mind of the LORD, or who has been his counselor?" 2c. For I am baptized,
I am absolved of my sins by divine power, Matth. 16, 19: "Everything that you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. I have such a promise, which I cannot lack. The pastor or shepherd of my soul comforts me and says: You are accepted by God, that you shall be His child, yes, you shall be an heir of eternal life. Nevertheless, God throws me into a severe challenge, makes me doubtful, distressed and despondent, since He allows such things to happen to me that are completely contrary to His promise. As he proclaimed in the prophets before: I will raise up the king of Babylon against you. Item, the Satan fights against us with all kinds of weapons and cunning. I already feel and see that God is punishing me and putting me in great distress and danger, but he has mercy on me, because I have his promise. But who can understand these things, which are so contrary to each other, or balance them with each other? I am to hope for eternal life, and must perish miserably and die there: do you think that God fulfills his promise in this way?
(16) Therefore it must be diligently observed that the doctrine of God according to his promises is different from the doctrine of the righteousness of the law. So the gospel preaches: You shall die, and yet live when you die; you shall live, and yet die when you live. This is a peculiar wisdom, far surpassing reason and all human understanding, which the lawyers and papists do not understand. Thus, at the same time as the promise, God gives Abraham the seed of Isaac, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed; but immediately he commands him: "Go and slaughter your son; he is the same God who gave him the son and takes him away again.
(17) Now this is a special teaching for the church, namely, that one should know that God is an almighty Creator who creates for this life, and then breaks again what he has created, so that he may make it alive again for another life. This is the promise, when he says: You shall
live. But the experience, so contrary to the promise, is thus: You shall die. Does this mean to keep the promise? It is indeed very difficult to teach and believe such things, which are utterly contrary to one another, and there is no one who can remain steadfast in the same faith, except he alone who understands the mind of the Lord; as Paul says in 1 Cor. 2:16, "Who has known the mind of the Lord? or who will instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."
(18) And it rhymes, therefore, that in this sacrifice and prayer Jacob remembered and imagined the example of his father Isaac, and that he said thus: O Lord God, as you redeemed my father Isaac from the ashes and burnt offerings, so rule me and help me also! Behold, I go in great trembling and fear, because I have no certain profession. For it is a heavy thing to do anything out of one's own discretion against the promise. And would this excuse not have been enough if he had said, "He wanted to do this out of good will, out of fatherly love and zeal for his son, since he has no command from God to do so? Therefore, God appears to him as he sacrifices and says to him, "Do not be afraid. Why are you afraid? Go down, and I will deliver you and bring you out again.
19 In this way we see that the divine consolation is such that where it is given there must be sadness; therefore one must receive and grasp such consolation in faith. And one can certainly conclude and assume from this that Jacob will also have been saddened to the point of death. For God raises up no one, nor strengthens or comforts anyone, but only those who are afflicted, who are now to die, with whom it is all lost. For the word of life and salvation belongs to those who are in anguish and despair, to whom it is rightly said: You are afraid and your conscience is tormenting you, the devil with his sting and the flesh is also tormenting you; be confident, do not despair, God is not angry with you 2c.
20 For in this place God does not only exhort Jacob to go down to the land of the LORD, but also to the land of the LORD.
He comforted him and delivered him from the fear he had in his conscience, but also overloaded him with a rich promise, and gave him a fine and glorious gloss on the previous promise, saying: "That I have promised you the land of Canaan, you must not understand so strictly and precisely, as if it were necessary that you should always remain in it. I am not only a God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles: I will also gather a church for myself from the Egyptians. As the people were scattered in Babylon and among the Assyrians, that they might call many to the gospel. Therefore, says God, I will gather many people through you and your seed, and I will give them to be converted to one church and to adhere to you. For the promise was given to you alone, but you are not to accept it alone. For it is not fit that ye should say thus: We alone are circumcised, therefore we alone are God's people. I will call the Gentiles as well as the Jews, that they also should come and turn to me. Therefore you do not sin by going to Egypt, but only continue that the Egyptians and other people may also be saved, "for there I will make you a great nation.
21 Now this is not contrary to the previous promise, since God had said: I will give you this land; which cannot be understood of the land of Canaan alone, for God is Lord of the whole world. And truly this was a wonderful counsel of God, that through the Jews, when they were thus scattered to and fro, the Gentiles also should be gathered together and converted to God. For in this way Daniel the Persian converted kings, Joseph Egypt, Christ and the apostles the whole world; as St. Paul says Rom. 11, 11: "From their fall salvation has come to the Gentiles"; item v. 12: "Their loss is the wealth of the Gentiles." As often as God punished the Jews for their sin, such punishment and sin has been a cause of salvation for many other nations.
22 Therefore, since Jacob thinks that the
When he hears from the Lord that the promise and his calling should only go to the land of Canaan, he says to him: "I will make you a great nation there," I will be with you. As Christ also promises His church when He says Matth. 28, 20: "Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"; but still not without challenge. And God says further to Jacob: You must not worry about how the promise can be fulfilled, because you are commanded to go to Egypt to your son, for whom you have heartily longed for so many years; for "I will lead you out again"; and it shall be the same, I will lead you out dead or alive. For thou shalt live in Egypt, though thou die; for I am a God of the living, and not of the dead. "And" finally "Joseph shall lay his hands upon thine eyes." You shall have a beautiful death, you shall die in good peace of a fine, gentle, and quiet death.
023 And it is a marvelous thing that he called him to go down to Egypt, when his son, if he died, should shut his eyes; and that he would bring him up again with his seed, when he was dead. Therefore God is the God of the patriarch Jacob, who lives, even though he has already died, and since Jacob has departed from this life, he has not died.
(24) It is clear from this great and very rich promise that Jacob thought and felt many things during this journey and was terribly confused. Therefore God promised him that He would make him great in Egypt and be with him, help him and govern him, and that he would finally die gently, so that Joseph would lay his hands on his eyes.
(25) For thus dying men are wont to pass away with their eyes broken and open, and the relatives or friends that are with them are wont to shut their eyes, which was the office of the dear fathers of the noblest men of their generation, and not of the old women, or of other women, that are wont to bear grief over the dead; but father or mother hath given their children the eyes of the dead.
Eyes closed for the hope and honor of the future resurrection. And it has been a fine, praiseworthy and honest custom and a fine ceremony or order that either the parents cover the eyes of the children, or the children and especially the firstborn cover the eyes of the parents. It is a special and the last benefit that can be shown to the deceased in their last hour. And this usage undoubtedly originated with the fathers, and is such a way that should be kept in the Christian church for the sake of the hope of immortality, which is promised to us, and the resurrection of the dead. As in Germany in some places is still the use, where one buries the dead to the earth, that there the nearest friends throw first of all earth into the grave and testify with such sign the hope and expectation of the resurrection.
(26) In this way, Moses diligently describes not only the domestic works that Jacob did, but also the worship and spiritual exercise that he had, his prayer, and how he praised and thanked God. These practices far surpass the miracles of the papal saints.
27 We are taught from this example that nothing in the Christian church is to be accepted or begun against or without the word of God. Therefore, we should live our lives in such a way that we may be certain that we are walking according to the rule of the divine word, whether we are awake or asleep. And finally, that we know that everything we do is done by God's command, who has called and blessed us for this. For the life of men on earth is miserable, is subject to your devil, to death and many innumerable temptations, and is full of the heaviest miseries, toil and labor. Therefore, the godly must be armed with God's word against Satan, sin, and all kinds of hardship and danger. And if the papists had kept to this teaching, the world would not have become so full of human statutes that it would have been flooded as if by a deluge, and the church would not have been defiled with so much abominable error.
Therefore, it is a great gift from God,
That we may live in the light of the word and the divine calling. For this is the beautiful golden crown that shines on the heads of the saints, as it is commonly painted, namely, the word that directs the course of our lives day and night, as David says in Psalm 119, v. 105: "Your word is the lamp of my feet"; and 2 Petr. 1, 19: "You do well to look to the word as a light shining in a dark place until the day dawns" 2c.
Reason lies in darkness; therefore it needs the light of the divine word, which must guide and govern it. For so does Jacob: since he is afraid to make this journey against God's command, he stays at Bersaba for a while, until he sacrifices, prays and hears God's word. And having heard this, he is now happy about it, for he now knows that this journey is blessed and confirmed by God's blessing.
(30) We must remember this diligently, so that we know that nothing should be done, advised or undertaken lightly, for we have God's word, whether it is written in the book or where something special is to be done, that this may be commanded by parents or authorities, so that we do nothing against the obedience and honor of God. One must not ask the devil as a guest.
Second part.
The register of those who went with Jacob to Egypt.
(vv. 5-7) Then Jacob departed from Beer-saba, and the children of Israel brought Jacob their father, and their little children, and their wives, in the chariots which Pharaoh had sent to bring him, and took their cattle and their substance, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan: and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him. His children, and his children's children with him, his daughters, and his children's daughters, and all his seed, he brought with him into Egypt.
How Jacob's prayer was heard and God's word was fulfilled is described here. But there are also questions that belong to grammar and arithmetic. Because
Genesis tells how Jacob came to Egypt with all his household goods and possessions that he had acquired in the land of Canaan. As it is also said about Abraham and Lot in Genesis 12:5: "Abram took Sarai, his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, with all their possessions that they had acquired and the souls they had begotten in Haran" 2c. Here, however, Moses refers to "his possessions" in general, not only his goods, but also his servants and maidservants, whom they used to buy and sell in those days, as now happens in Turkey. And it seems to have been truly no small heap. For the twelve patriarchs had children, children's children, servants, maidservants and perhaps also relatives.
32 And it is asked, Why Moses saith that Jacob took daughters and children's daughters with him, when in the following genealogy there are but two daughters enumerated, Dinah, and Zerah the daughter of Ezer, Jacob's granddaughter. How then did he speak in the plural of a single daughter, as if they were many, when there were no more of them in the whole number? Answer: This is the use of the holy scripture, that it sometimes uses the singular synecdochically, when it speaks of many, as it says in Exodus 4:22: "Israel is my firstborn son"; item: Ephraim sins and worships the calves; which is to be understood of the whole people and tribe of Ephraim. So in the Latin language one also says: Romanus proelio victor, that is: The Romans have kept the victory in the dispute.
(33) The other is somewhat rarer and does not happen so often, namely, that one speaks of many, where one wants to have understood only one; as afterwards, Cap. 46, v. 23, it says: "The children of Dan: Husim", since only one is mentioned, yet he pretends to speak of many. And in this place it is also written, "His children's daughters," which is spoken of Serah alone. This is the use, and a special liberty, so the holy scripture has, namely, that it names approximately a whole line, family register or birth, if also no more, but only one is enumerated.
34. Augustine thinks that by this one must understand the wives of the sons of Jacob; but
The reason does not rhyme with the text, which expressly says about the daughters and his children's daughters. Now the names of the children of Jacob follow; we want to run over them recently.
V. 8-15. These are the names of the children of Israel who came in Egypt: Jacob and his sons. The firstborn son of Jacob, Reuben. The children of Reuben: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Charmi. The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jachin, Zohar, and Saul the son of the Canaanite woman. The sons of Levi: G erson, Kohath and Merari. The sons of Judah: Ger, Onan, Selah, Perez and Zerah. But Ger and Onan had died in the land of Canaan. And the sons of Perez: Hezron and Hamul. The sons of Jesashar: Thola, Phua, Job and Simron. The sons of Zebulun: Sered, Elon and Jahleel. These are the children of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in Mesopotamia, with his daughter Dinah. All these are sons and daughters, three and thirty souls.
35 Only Saul is said here to have been the son of a Canaanite woman, and the rabbis of the Jews have invented various reasons for this. However, I do not believe their poem, nor do I know what to say about it. Some say that this Canaanite woman is supposed to be Dina, who was put to sleep by Shechem the Hivite: she is supposed to have been given to a Canaanite man afterwards; finally, however, she is supposed to have taken Simeon to wife, so that she should preside over his house and rule it, which does not seem probable to me.
(36) But if it be said, I would rather say that this was an honest beautiful matron, whom Simeon loved, and whom he also took to wife, even as his former wife was yet living, or else was dead, who had already before with another man this son Saul; so that he was a stranger in this tribe, and born of Canaanite parents on both sides. And for this I have chiefly this cause, that Saul is left in this number of the three and thirty souls; for where thou didst find them all after one another
If you count the number of people, there are four and thirty in the text.
37 And I do not like to follow Lyra here, who even excludes Dinah against the clear words in the text. And about that Dina, Jacob's daughter, was an Israelite and not a Cananite. But where one person is to be left out and separated from the others, I think that this Saul should rather be excluded. Although I do not want to say anything certain about it, because there is no place in the whole first book of Moses, which has been pulled back and forth by the interpreters in so many different ways, as this one, about which they have all tried hard and racked their brains, namely, Lyra, Augustin, Burgensis and Jerome.
V. 16-18. The children of Gad: Ziphion, Haggi, Suni, Ezbon, Eri, Arodi, and Areli. The weary Affer: Jemim, Jesua, Jesui, Bria, and Serah their sister. But the children of Bria: Heber and Malchiel. These are the children of Zilpah, whom Laban gave to Leah his daughter, and bare Jacob these sixteen souls.
38) Serah is a daughter of Asher. Only two wives are enumerated in this line, and each one is called by itself "daughters",-in the plural, as if speaking of many. The same happens according to the use of the Scriptures. If, however, to the previous four and thirty souls are added the sixteen from the other wife, together they make fifty souls. Now follow the sons and the sons' children of Jacob's first wife Rachel.
V. 19-27. The children of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin. And unto Joseph were born in the land of Egypt Manasseh and Ephraim, which bare him Asnath the daughter of Potipherah the priest of On. The children of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Asbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Ros, Muppim, Huppim and Ard. These are the children of Rachel, which were born unto Jacob; all fourteen souls. The children of Dau: Husim. The sons of Naphtali: Jahzeel, Guni, Jezer and Sillem. These are the children Bilhah, which Laban gave to Rachel his daughter, and bare Jacob the seven souls. All the souls that were born with
Jacob's children who came into Egypt from his loins (except his children's wives) were all together six and threescore souls. And the children of Joseph, which were born in Egypt, were two souls: so that all the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt, were threescore and ten.
39 Then you see how the Holy Spirit does such great honor to Rachel that he calls her Jacob's wife, which he did not say of Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah. For she was the true wife of the house, whom Jacob first loved, desired and trusted, but Laban betrayed him by an ungodly exchange, as we have just heard, Cap. 29, 23.
40 Now here again he says, "the children of Dan," when he had only one son, Hushim, because in the Scriptures the births or generations are mentioned in the plural, as if they were speaking of many, when only one is mentioned.
(41) And until then the register of the names and the list of the people who went down to Egypt continues. But the account is so confused that no interpreter has been able to put it right. However, Lyra was the closest; only that he excludes Dina, whom the text clearly and explicitly counts. For if you count them all together, then one person is left, since in the text four and thirty are put, while Moses alone counts three and thirty. But I think that it is much better to omit Saul than Dinah, as I said before.
42 Now follows another number, which is no less confused, since he says that six and sixty souls came with Jacob to Egypt. But in order that we may understand the same number, it seems most convenient that we divide this account, so that the first register concerns those born of Jacob, in whom Joseph and his sons are included; but the other register concerns those who went to Egypt, since Joseph and his children are excluded, as well as Ger and Onan, and there remain five and sixty persons.
43. from Leah came in two
and thirty souls, if Saul is absent from it; of Zilpah, sixteen; of Rachel, eleven (for Joseph and his two sons were already in Egypt); of Bilhah, seven. Now when these are all added together, it makes six and sixty persons. But where are we going to get the Audern, so that the seventy will be full? If Joseph and his two sons are added, it makes nine and sixty. But Jacob, the last, becomes the seventieth.
44 Therefore, the text must be understood disjunctively and copulatively, that is, by dividing and adding together. All the souls that came out of Jacob's loins, except himself, are six and threescore. For Jacob himself did not come out of his loins. Joseph and his sons, though born of him, do not go with him into Egypt; likewise, since Ger and Onan died in Canaan, Saul came in their place. But he is left out of the first account, and these two are counted with him, so that they also belong to the descendants of Jacob.
The seventy interpreters of the Bible have interpreted five and seventy souls 2c., and Stephanus, Ap. Gesch. 7, 14, also gives the same number. But this is an obvious error or wickedness, that those have dared to put nine for the two souls that were born to Joseph in Egypt. And in Deut. 10, 22, only seventy souls are explicitly mentioned. Augustine tries to excuse them, and thinks that a special secret or secret wisdom is hidden among them. I do not know, however, whether this error happened or came from the interpreters, or from ignorance of the book writers, or that it might otherwise have been falsified. The text clearly speaks of the souls that came to Egypt. And although Ephraim was born in the other fair year, and Jacob went to his son in the other year of the Theurung, yet it is impossible that a boy of eight years should have a wife or children, on whom they looked.
46 Therefore, it seems that the seventy interpreters have been too bold with their
Or, perhaps, a wicked villain has falsified her book. For one must not remain silent about this error. And there are even more places in which they have also erred, either out of ignorance or out of mischievousness. That is why they have a small reputation with me and do not count for much with me.
But we want to keep the common number, which agrees with the fifth book of Moses. And that we may so much more easily help ourselves out of this confused confusion, I have said that two reckonings are to be made, the one of birth, that I call it thus, since two die, Ger and Onan, and yet are counted, and yet do not go to Egypt; though they also came out of the loins of Jacob. The other account is with the six and sixty and seventy souls, since Jacob and Joseph with his two sons are added to them.
Muenster follows the rabbis of the Jews and says: One more person should be added, who was born in Egypt, namely Jochebed, the daughter of Levi and mother of Moses. But this is an audacious and free invention of the rabbis, which does not concern us at all.
49 But why was such precision necessary in this genealogy? Or: Why did God want us to practice and strive for this number? which seems to be of no use at all; for what do I care if sixty or seventy souls go to Egypt? I have often said, and shall always be impressed upon the people, that God intended the Israelite people to have a certain and glorious origin for the sake of the Lord Christ, who was to be born of this people. Therefore, the order or lineage of the fathers is recounted with such great diligence in the entire history of the Holy Scriptures, in the books of Judges, Kings and Prophets, so that everyone may know who the Lord Christ's forefathers were, that he was not born in an unknown and unnoticed place, but was sent and called by God himself, and did heavenly teachings and divine miraculous works in this world. For
He was not born in a family of dishonest loose people and tramps, like the Pope and Mahomet, but from the most famous people.
50. then this is written for our sake, that we may learn how God so diligently cares for His saints and believers, that He does not leave out even one person, that He should not have counted them with the utmost diligence and faithfulness. As Christ says about the hair of all of us and of each one in particular, Matth. 10, 30: "The hairs of your head are all numbered.
For this reason, Christ is the most important reason that this account is described so precisely. The other is that the godly may be comforted by it, whom God wants to encourage so that they will not be afraid of the pope, the Turk or the emperor, since they are so precisely described in God's hands that not only not a finger, not an ear, but also not a hair will fall from their head and perish against the will of their heavenly Father. As the beautiful sweet saying in the prophet Isaiah in the 49th Cap. V. 14, 15, 16: "But Zion saith, The LORD hath forsaken me, the LORD hath forgotten me"; God answers, No, I have not forgotten thee: "Can a woman forget her child, that she have not compassion on the son of her womb? She will certainly not do so; nature does not permit such a thing. Or if she be a harlot or a loose woman, and forget her child, "yet will I not forget thee. Behold, in the hands I have marked thee; thy walls are before me for ever" 2c. As if he said, "All that I do in heaven and on earth is directed to serve you. I am concerned only about you. I cannot and will not forget you: I have such great care for you and love you so much that even though you are now buried in the earth and eaten by worms, not a hair will perish.
52 And so also the 34th Psalm v. 21. says: "He preserves all his bones, that not one of them be broken. Although the world rages and rages with sword and fire against the godly, as Johannes Huss says in the Conciliar
burned by the papists at Costnitz, God has nevertheless gathered all his bones, plus the smallest limbs and hairs, into a bundle, so that they would not be trampled on by the enemies. Let them burn. Skin and hair go there, everything is wrapped in a bundle, so that they shall not perish. Yes, that is even more, he also gathers the claws of the cattle, not only the hair of the godly; as Exodus 10:26 says, "Not a claw shall remain behind." Finally, he also counts their tears, as the 56th Psalm v. 9. says: "God, count my tears, put them in your bag. Without doubt, you count them."
53. But is this not a great honor to the saints and believers, that everything we do and suffer in the name of Christ is written as in a tablet and is always before God's eyes. For thus the family of Jacob, being called by God and also governed by Him, is so diligently enumerated that even now its memory endures. That this doctrine is always kept and diligently practiced in the Christian church is very useful to strengthen and uphold the faith and hope of the future life and eternal glory in us.
54 But I will now deliberately leave aside the question which Lyra and the others have raised, namely, of the seventy souls which came out of Jacob's loins. Likewise also, that a plural, that is, a word that signifies many, is put to a singular that signifies only one; as that here in Latin it is written, septuaginta anima, etc., that is, seventy souls. For this is very common in the Scriptures, and the Hebrew language, which does not have such a strict rule that a proper word and a noun, as is the case in Latin, must stand together in the same number; as we have had several examples of this above, as: Vixit septuaginta annum, et unum annos: He lived seventy years and one year. And here it is also written: Omnes anima sexaginta sex: All soul six and sixty. And the same is commonly held in words for counting, or number words. This belongs to grammar and is in itself simple, so that everyone can understand it.
55) The Hebrew word nephesh is called a soul everywhere in the holy scriptures, and the whole man is thus called, of whom we say that he has body and soul, and call him either a living body, since there is a soul in it, or an animate being.
(56) But we do not want to discuss here whether the soul comes from the body, that is, from the seed of the Father; of which discussion the Sententiarchs deal much, namely, whether the soul also comes ex traduce, as they say, from the seed like the body, and agonize over it in various ways; although I cannot understand with what fruit or benefit they thus quarrel among themselves. Therefore let us postpone this question until another place. Some hold that it does not come ex traduce, from the seed, but when the body is prepared and created with all its members, the soul is poured into man soon and in a moment, and when it is thus poured in, it is also created at the same time, so that both things happen at once and at the same time. Augustin does not want to conclude anything for sure, and freely confesses that he does not know.
Third part.
How Jacob sends Judah ahead to Joseph; and how finally Jacob and Joseph come together.
V.28. And he sent Judah before him to Joseph, to instruct him in Goshen: and they came into the land of Goshen.
57 Judah is sent ahead of Joseph by his father, which honor would have been rightly due to the first three sons, Reuben, Simeon and Levi. But he prefers the latter; as he also did above, Cap. 44, 18. ff., he spoke for the others before Joseph alone and directed their cause. Therefore, it is clear from this account that his father thought highly of him, and that Judah must have been held in special esteem by him, for he took care of him with special diligence and spirit, as will be seen hereafter.
The blessing the Father spoke over him, prophesying that Christ would come from his tribe.
(58) Judah was then about two and forty years old, the father of two grandsons by blood, and at the same time king and priest in the patriarch Jacob's house against the right common order of birth, and taught and governed the church or congregation that was gathered in Jacob's house. Therefore Jacob sent the son, who was the most honest of the others, before him to Joseph, lehoroth, as it is written in Hebrew, that is, to instruct (for jarah, in Hebrew, means to teach, to instruct, from which comes the word moreh, teacher, and thorah, law), that Judah should report to his brother and tell him that his father was now coming, and admonish him to come to Goshen, for there the father would go away and wait for his son. For Joseph was to be reminded of his father's coming, that he might appoint certain places, and order the lodging.
(59) Now this seems to be a small thing and nothing, that Jacob sends messengers before him to Joseph his son. But the holy fathers were very wise and full of the Holy Spirit. And we have heard before that Jacob was grievously afraid when he went into Egypt. For these people were not so imprudent in their counsel, actions, and deeds as we are: they were not so plump as we mad fools. For after Jacob had left the land of Canaan with all his household, and with great joy and gladness, he nevertheless went to Bersaba on the way, being greatly distressed and grieved that he should go into a foreign land without promise, without divine command and testimony. But when he was raised up and strengthened there with God's word, he was not yet completely free of fear, but a new fear and sorrow seized his heart. But why is that? Because it is written in Psalm 146, v. 3: "Do not rely on princes. For out of the comfort that
When he gave God the answer, he could not know for sure what Pharaoh's and Egypt's will would be, even though he did not doubt God's will, and had often experienced beforehand how wonderfully God fulfilled His promises.
(60) For from his youth, and from the time that he received the blessing, he had been exercised and tried in many ways. He had left his father's house for fear of his angry brother Esau and had been in misery for twenty years, and in such misery had also borne the heaviest servitude under his father-in-law Nabal, who was an ungodly and miserly man. In addition, Bilhah, his wife, and his daughter Dinah were put to sleep; item, the death of Rachel; and finally, his son, whom he especially loved, was sold and taken away to Egypt.
(61) This marvelous government of God cannot be comprehended by reason, nor can it understand the way, the time, the path and the counsel of God, and finally the flesh must come out and say: God is a liar. For does this mean to keep or fulfill His promise, to take away the son who is the heir of the promise? And whoever has been struck so often, he finally becomes wise through his own danger, which he encounters, learns to be careful and is easily angered; as one is wont to say: He who burns himself so often, becomes shy at the last.
(62) Although Jacob had a very certain answer from God concerning his journey to Egypt, in which answer he was also promised that God would bring him up again and make him a great nation (which is all true and certain, and he could not have lacked), he still has some doubts about Pharaoh. Therefore he thinks: What may it become with the king and the princes in the same kingdom? How many and many obstacles will come and happen because of this, that the people have so many wills and are so very unstable in the foreign land and great glorious kingdom, in which they have been living?
They will not easily suffer or endure foreigners, and that those of such lowly birth should become great among them, especially when they see them growing and ruling among them. For the histories of all times bear witness to this, and experience also brings it.
(63) Joseph has been a lord and teacher of the princes and priests of the land and also of the king himself, 2c., and will undoubtedly have brought forth great fruit. Now and then he has appointed and ordered many churches, but he has not been able to convert the whole kingdom, for the greatest part of it is always idolatrous and of the devil. Just as there is no doubt that Daniel and his companions at Babylon, Mordecai, item, and Esther did not also convert many. But they were not able to reform the whole kingdom everywhere. So Jonah converted the king and princes of Nineveh, but not all of them, and most of them fell back into their former sins and vices.
Therefore it is enough that we may convert a portion of the people, and even the least of them, so that they may be reformed and become pious. God, however, reigns miraculously and lets idolatry remain. But he sends his fishermen, such as Daniel, Joseph, Esther, and Mordecai, who are like poor little worms, and yet sometimes gathers kings and other great monarchs into his church. But the kingdom of this world remains the devil's kingdom. Cyrus did not come to the kingdom by the word of God, but when he became a king and a great monarch and a lord over Babylon, he first heard Daniel and his companions and accepted their teaching; as the Lord says in the prophet Isaiah Cap. 45:4: "Before you knew me, I gave you kingdoms and great cities.
(65) So the king and princes of Egypt were also pious, speaking synecdochically; for only the lesser part were converted by Joseph, or by Jacob and his sons.
(66) So also in our day we have the word which the prophets and apostles had, converting many princes and rulers.
and even one or two kings, but the greater part remain godless and always rage for themselves until God comes and destroys everything. For the word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord shall not return to him void, but shall do what pleases him, as Isa. 55:11 says. But the papists and other opponents and despisers of the word shall finally perish. They will perish because of it.
67 Therefore Jacob will have thought thus: Behold, we are going down to Egypt, and there we shall find some of the pious princes who have hitherto heard Joseph preach; but how if they should again fall away from his doctrine? Who knows whether he is still in favor with the king and the princes? What will happen after his death? How, if the other prelates, councils or priests had again deceived the so pious king? Therefore he wants to find out all things beforehand, and for this reason he sends Judah before him and commands him to report all things to Joseph, and to order and prepare everything most diligently for him and the inhabitants of Egypt. For although he has the promise, he cannot yet conclude that he will immediately go through with it without any hesitation.
(68) We should also learn to do this. Although we are certain that God cares for us, we should know that we should nevertheless use the things and means that God has ordained, so that we do not tempt God. We should not plump down and say, "Well, it must be done, because I have a promise from God; therefore I will only go into the midst of the lions and wolves, since God has promised me that He will preserve me. I will not eat; for God will otherwise feed me well. Yes, God wants us to use the help that is created for the preservation and government of this life: and if we are not able to do anything with it, then we should not lose heart, but hold on to God's help, which He has promised us.
69 For so did the fathers. Since they had certain promises, they have
Nevertheless, they did not despise the proper means, but used their skill and understanding to guard against danger and otherwise govern their whole lives. At the same time, however, they always had the Word before their eyes and relied on it when their work and what they knew were not enough.
70 For our Lord God governs us in such a way that he does not want us to be idle. He gives us food and clothing, but so that we may plow, sow, reap and cook. He also gives us children, who are born and grow up by God's blessing, and yet must be fed, cared for, raised and taught by their parents. But when we have done what is right for us, then we should command the rest to God, and cast our concern on the Lord, who will do it well, he will provide for us well, as the 55th Psalm v. 23. says.
So God could well govern the church through the Holy Spirit without the outward preaching ministry, but He does not want to do this without means. Therefore he says to Petro, Joh. 21, 16: "Feed my sheep"; go, preach, baptize and absolve the people. In the secular police he says to the authorities: "You shall watch, protect, use the sword. That is why Paul calls the apostles "God's co-workers", 1 Cor. 3, 9. He may work alone, but he does it through us.
72) So he could have created children without Adam; as Adam did nothing at first, since he was made from the earth, and Eve neither, since she was created from Adam's rib; but after that he said to them, Genesis 1:28: "Be fruitful and multiply", as if he wanted to say: I will now create children through your cooperation.
(73) So it is in all the other works of this common life. I shall not cut the tree with my nose, nor shall I use a straw, but I shall use an axe or a saw; and therefore God has given man reason, sense and strength, which you shall use as the means and gifts of God.
This is to be repeated and practiced at all times in the church or congregation of God, so that we remain on the right middle road or military road and do not deviate to the right or to the left. For one should not doubt the promise, nor should one tempt God to abandon or despise the means that God has ordained.
75 In this way Jacob, not fully knowing or understanding the king's heart, sent word to his son Joseph of his coming to meet him in the land of Goshen, where he had called him with his household. And no doubt he will have heard that Joseph did not eat at the same table with the proud Egyptians, of whom we have heard that they were very proud and defiant because of the kingdom of Egypt, which was so rich in all kinds of goods, power, and many other innumerable gifts of God. They were idolatrous and the most hopeful people, so they despised others beside themselves and only thought much of themselves. They considered the Greeks and Israelites as rude people. Just as now the loose people of the Italians, out of special pride and inherited malice, call the Germans, Spaniards and other peoples also rude and ignorant people.
76) Those who were converted from Egypt were undoubtedly good and righteous people, as happens in the conversion of those who were previously particularly wicked.
It was, by the way, a strange and difficult reign, since a foreign man, before whom the hopeful people had an abhorrence, ruled in Egypt. But his virtue and prophetic wisdom, and the fact that all his advice and deeds went so well and turned out so well, earned him respect and favor. Therefore they were able to bear his rule and honored him because of the special and excellent gifts they saw in him, although they did not remain humble, but remained in the use of their country.
78. where the place had been, which is called here Gosen, I do not know and the Geogra
phen disputiren also from it. It seems to have bordered on the land of Canaan. Jerome writes that this place was called Ptolemais in his time; which I will leave to the geographers to decide. But it is certain that it must have been not far from the land of Canaan, by the waters of the Nile. For they have not yet come to Egypt, but have remained in front, since one first moves into the place, where afterwards Raemses was built, since one has moved to Palestine through the Red Sea and through the desert.
79 Therefore they remained in Goshen until Judah came to Egypt. And Jacob was careful not to tempt God, because he was afraid that something might happen through carelessness or negligence that might bring him harm: therefore he wanted Joseph to be diligent in ordering and prescribing all things. This is godly, good and holy counsel, just as all the works of the holy fathers are holy and good. For where they walk in faith, their skill and wisdom of reason is also pleasing to God. But again, God hates and abhors the works of the wicked, even though they seem outwardly very holy.
(80) Both the father and the son will no doubt have longed fiercely for them to come together. How will their hearts have throbbed? How then their desire and longing, as well as their immense joy in what will follow in the text, can be seen.
Then Joseph harnessed his chariot, and went up to meet his father Israel at Goshen. And when he saw him, he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a long time. And Israel said unto Joseph, I will gladly die, when I have seen thy face, that thou art yet alive.
81 It is probable that Jacob will hardly have known his son Joseph when he came before him; for his face will be something within two and twenty years.
especially since he was dressed in royal clothing and jewelry. Their great desire for each other is illustrated by the fact that they embraced each other in this way: since Joseph fell around his father's neck and was always clinging to him, he became completely joyful about it, so that he did not want to tear himself away from his old father immediately, since he embraced him and kissed him. And the father, who until then had spent his life in the greatest sadness and pain, is now, as it were, raised from hell and death to life again.
(82) Therefore this is indeed a bodily joy and gladness; but the same has also been full of righteous, hearty and kindly affection, which has pleased God exceedingly. And there is no one who could attain and explain this in words, or even understand how great this heartfelt affection has been, unless he will also experience it one day.
The father says: I will now die happily and gladly, as our interpreter has given it in Latin: Jam laetus moriar, etc. As if he wanted to say: I wanted to die now this hour or moment, if God would have it so. These are very moving words, that he says: "I am ready to go to death now; for my poor heart has been miserably afflicted with miserable lamentation and sadness for two and twenty years, because I had despaired of your life: but now that I may see you alive and well again, I feel that I have passed from death to life, and am quite rid of all sorrow and burden.
(84) But he has not yet allowed the honor and glory of Joseph to be challenged or moved. For when he saw that his son was still alive, he had such a great desire for him that he did not particularly care for the great glory and royal power that Joseph had, and was satisfied only that his son was still alive. Yes, that is even more, he thinks thus: Even if you would be the most miserable man and even deserted, I would still have enough left, that I may see that you are still
I do not regard the glory and the great good that is not only in Egypt, but also in the whole world; for I will gladly leave the world and go out of this life willingly and joyfully.
These were undoubtedly the words that Jacob spoke from his father's heart, which Moses describes only recently. As he is silent about everything else that was said or happened when they came together. It will have been however truly a long disputation, and will have held a discussion with each other of various cases and many changes. Joseph will have told his father at length how his affairs were everywhere and how he was so wonderfully fortunate. And they stayed the same night at Gosen, and dined together. And at last all the house of Jacob and all his servants were gladdened, and had many discussions of all things that had happened before, of the brethren and their wives, and especially of the great affliction which the father had borne all that time. All this Moses has only just shown and could not have done otherwise. For it is very good to think of the sorrow that is now over and of the past toil and labor. As the poet says: Forsan et haec olim meminisse juvabit, that is: It will perhaps do us good some day that we may remember this hardship and danger we suffered. There will have fallen questions of the mother Bilha, Silpa, Lea 2c. Joseph said to his father and brothers the next day or the day after, "I will go up" to King 2c.
Joseph said to his brothers and to his father's house, "I will go up and tell Pharaoh and speak to him: My brethren and my father's house are come unto me out of the land of Canaan, and are herdsmen: for they are men that handle cattle: their cattle, both small and great, and all that they have, they have brought with them. Whom therefore Pharaoh shall call unto you, and say, What is your meat? then shall ye say, Thy servants are men that handle cattle; from our
Youth till now, both we and our fathers; that ye may dwell in the land of Goshen. For the shepherds of cattle are an abomination to the Egyptians.
Joseph knew well how honorable the Egyptians were and what their ways were, namely, that they used to despise the Hebrews, not only because they were foreigners, but also because of their status and the way they lived. But since he also knows and recognizes that the supreme authority was with the king, he again needs human skill and prudence and proves the honor he owed to his sovereign, as he had never done anything without the king's will and command. And such prudence was indeed necessary for the sake of many a burden and discomfort, which is customary for rulers in such great dominions.
(87) Therefore he saith unto his brethren, and to his father's house, I will go up, and hear what the king's mind and will be. For ye are come into a very great kingdom, where all the people abhor you for the cattle: therefore it shall be necessary for me to give you access unto the king. Above all this, you must be reminded that you must strive with the utmost diligence to conform yourselves to the ways of the Egyptians who will harbor you, so that they will not be offended by your coarse, rustic customs; but you must get accustomed to gentleness, friendliness and courtesy: you will have to get accustomed to the ways of this hopeful land, so that they will not soon find something in you to blame and punish in the beginning.
88. you will be brought before the king and the princes of the kingdom of egypt, and you must be careful to
You must keep yourselves modest and humble, and say, "We are people who handle cattle. The Egyptians will be offended by this word, but it is better for you to confess freely and honestly where you come from and what your rank or office is, than to pretend something else or to conceal it. This is the best way to get through.
(89) I will also tell the king that you have brought your flocks and herds with you. And I will have reminded you of this beforehand, so that you may have a certain form of answer when the king calls you; for you are not to restrain him, but say: "Your servants are people who handle cattle, from our youth up to now" 2c. Confess at once; and that ye may keep besides this place Gosen, which is not in the midst of the kingdom, but on the border of the land of Canaan. For if, for my sake, I or the king himself would place you in a better place, which would be more honest, it would be repugnant to the princes and subjects of the kingdom of Egypt, and they would envy you. But I deal with this, that you may remain in such a place, where you have good pasture, and do not fear that the Egyptians may offend or envy you. For what cattle herders are, that is an abomination to them; not that they have none at all, but because they despise them. As with us also the cowherds and shepherds are considered the very lowest people; or as masters of sticks, butchers and executioners are not drawn according to our usage to honest offices or company: so among all classes of the same kingdom the cattle herders have also been the very most contemptible people.